Abstract

Techniques are presented for estimating the parameters of catalyst deactivation models from the operating data of industrial reactors. In the case of a first-order deactivation model, the partial differential equations describing the main reaction and deactivation are transformed to an ordinary differential equation for which estimation techniques are well established. The general power deactivation model can only be treated approximately and the case of a bifunctional catalyst must be treated by special methods. A numerical example is presented for the oxidation of butene to butadiene.